3 r d ISSUE

The Art of Watercolour No. 3

THE ART OF

Watercolour T H E A R T M A G A Z I N E F O R W AT E R C O L O U R I S T S
FR : 7,50 € - BE : 8,80 € - CH : 15 FS - LU : 8,80 €- ES : 9,50 € - IT : 9 €- GR : 8,90 €- PT CONT. : 8,80 € - GB : £8,20 - NL : 9 € - DE. : 9,50 € - AT : 9 € - MA : 97 MAD

GUAN WEIXING
One of watercolour’s greatest
contemporary portraitists

JOHN BORRACK TECHNICAL GUIDE

Handling atmosphere Your brushes
in close-up
L 15673 - 3 - F: 7,50 € - RD

and texture
QUARTERLY - JUNE-AUGUST 2011 - 7,50 €

ALSO INSIDE
Jean-Claude Papeix
Valériy Grachov
PAUL MARGOCSY ANDERS ZORN Eva Tomkins
Painting Sweden's master David Paskett
Australian birds watercolourist Jean-Louis Thibaut

EXPERT ADVICE: PAINTING WITH FIVE PRIMARY COLOURS - SOLUTIONS FOR OBTAINING CLEAN COLOUR MIXES
 LIFE

A personal approach
AN ARTIST’S

to landscape painting
OVER THE COURSE OF HIS SIXTY-YEAR CAREER, THE AUSTRALIAN
ARTIST HAS DEVELOPED A TECHNIQUE BASED ON RESPECT FOR HIS
SUBJECT AND THE ADDITION OF GOUACHE TO HIS WATERCOLOURS.

Under the Escarpment Kakadu, Northern Territory.

Watercolour on Modigliani paper, 76 x 102 cm.

M My commitment to watercolour is personal. Its intrinsic physical

properties, combined with the rapidity and spontaneity that
this medium requires, are ideally suited to my desire to say
something about landscapes. I quite often venture into the
world of oil painting and I find that the reciprocity of these
two media aids in the construction of my approach to painting.
If a painter wants his/her work to truly become an expression
of their interior world, he or she must be enthralled. In my
case, this is manifest in a profound fondness for the natural
and unchanging order of things, and studying my favourite
masters both in oil painting and watercolour. A lifetime spent
contemplating the countryside in which I live and the wide
open spaces of Australia, where I often go to resource myself,
have given me the opportunity to take up the challenge of
finding a way to express the unique qualities of this conti-
nent’s landscapes, which are so different to those you find in
Europe. Watercolour’s inherent characteristics, such as its
liquidness and transparency, must be well understood. It is
essential to know the capacities and the limits of one’s
materials and chosen medium.
Haasts Bluff,
Northern
Territory.
Watercolour on
Saunders
Medium paper,
76 x 56 cm.

20 W ATERCOLOUR N O .3 / J UNE -A UGUST 2011

THE ARTIST

Pears and a Glass.

76 x 56 cm.
MEET

Chris Krupinski
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, THIS AMERICAN ARTIST DISCOVERED
WATERCOLOUR. SINCE THEN, SHE HAS BEEN PATIENTLY ELABORATING
HIGHLY DETAILED AND COLOURFUL STILL LIFES, STRIKING IN THEIR
BOLD AND COMPLEX COMPOSITION, BASED ON THE CONTRAST
BETWEEN LIGHTS AND DARKS.

Y Your still lifes are above all remarkable for their elabo-
rate composition. How do you find this balance in your
paintings?
Before taking photos of my subject, I spend a lot of time think-
ing about colour and texture. Each element in my still lifes is
there for a reason and has a signification. For example, the
fabrics that I use play an important role in the general
composition. Another element that I take into account is the
relationship between the colour of the objects and that of the
fabric. For example, if I decide to use a fabric with red stripes,
I will complete my subject with red grapes and pomegran-
The impression one gets from your paintings is that it is
your treatment of light, in combination with your ideas
on tonal values, that bring unity to each of your
compositions…
Working with the differences in value is inherent to the way
I paint. I try to create depth and volume. Lighter values cre-

A MISTAKE TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS

ates in order to create a monochrome painting. Next I con-
sider colour temperature that I use to create a certain ten-
sion in the work between cool and warm tones. If I take a
piece of fabric with a wide variety of colours and patterns, I
will balance out my composition with other coloured objects:
as I often use fabrics that have complex motifs, I choose big
pieces of fruit in order to create large coloured areas that will
bring that balance. I also quite often use objects in glass or
silverware to distort shapes.
To effectively create harmony in your painting, you have to repeat
colours in order to maintain equilibrium. The most common
mistake is to make the colours you repeat less vivid. For example,
if you want to repeat a bright yellow on the other side of your
painting, on the opposite side to your centre of interest, the error
would be to make this yellow less bright. On the contrary, the
yellow close to the main subject will be juxtaposed with a warm
dull blue in order to create a maximum contrast and on the
other side of the painting, this yellow will be placed next to an
analogous colour such as orange. In this way, the viewer’s eye
will not be drawn away from the main subject and you will
maintain balance in your painting.

44 W ATERCOLOUR N O .3 / J UNE -A UGUST 2011